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Saturday, November 26, 2011

How to Make Gluten-Free, Vegan Pancakes and Waffles

In June, I decided to take on a challenge I felt completely unprepared for. Writing a guide to gluten-free baking. Thankfully, my co-author was much more adept in the kitchen, and I just prayed I would catch on. I had asked The Assistant at the time if he thought it was a good idea. I believe my exact words were, "Do you think I'm crazy?" And he told me that taking on any project was a wonderful thing because no matter what, I would learn. And learn I have. Through trial and error, and lots of flops, I've created over 40 gluten, dairy and soy-free recipes since June. Almost 6 months later, I am astounded at how much I've learned. When I started making recipes for the book in June, I spent days and days on each recipe, often giving up in disgust and accepting a mediocre result. Now, I can go back and look at those recipes, and immediately pick out what I did wrong and how to fix it. I know how to avoid gums in recipes now, I know which flours work best with eggs and which work without, and I know that my waffle how-to guide that I wrote last year was not perfect. I also know that a lot of the recipes on this blog need reworking, and I plan on spending time this year updating my older recipes.

(Most of my pancakes came out fluffier than the ones
in this picture...but they got eaten before I could take a picture...the
pancakes in this picture were actually my failed pancakes)
The first recipe I wanted to rework was indeed my waffle guide. After realizing my ratios were slightly off (and I apologize to anyone who used that guide and was unhappy with the results!), I decided I wanted a recipe that would work for ANY flour, that was vegan, and that could be used for pancakes AND waffles. Three days and over 24 batches of pancakes/waffles later (seriously...), I have a recipe that makes me happy.

I have never seen so many pancakes in my life. But the last thing I wanted was to post another guide only to realize it wasn't right! So I got out my OCD tendencies, made a chart, and went to work. Here's the recipe, and please read below for my notes on which flours have the best texture and flavor, and which ones weren't so pleasant. Take note that this recipe WILL NOT work for coconut flour. Don't even try it...I did, and it was a huge waste of flour.

*** I know that cups and grams are different for each flour. HOWEVER, I tested this recipe out with EACH FLOUR with cups AND grams. Whether you measure your flours by cups or the gram measurements given, your pancakes/waffles will work. If you use almond flour, you'll only need about 1/2 cup of liquid. If you use a thick liquid like full-fat coconut milk, you'll need more (up to 1 3/4 cups). Otherwise, you'll need about 1 cup of liquid (milk, water, juice, etc.) regardless of the flour.

1. Whisk together your dry ingredients.
2. Whisk together the applesauce, oil, and 1/2 cup of liquid. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir. Add more liquid slowly (I do it by the tablespoon so as not to pour too much) until you've reached the consistency of a thick pancake batter. Always start with less liquid and test the batter on one pancake or waffle first. If it's too thick, you can add more liquid, but you can't take liquid away once you've added it!

To make waffles, make sure to oil the iron frequently and keep the batter thick. It won't spread on the iron, but you can use a spoon to spread the batter out evenly on the iron. If the batter is too thin, it is much more likely to stick. (See note at end of post from a reader on sticking waffles before making.)

To make pancakes, you can use a little more liquid than with waffles (about 2-4 tablespoons more), depending on how thick you prefer your pancakes.

Tips (Read These Before Making):

Potato starch is the best starch to use in these recipes. You can use tapioca, arrowroot, or cornstarch, BUT potato starch makes the insides fluffier. (Update: A few readers have tried using arrowroot and found the results to be gummy, so be forewarned. If you can use potato starch, do!)

Almond flour makes the best pancakes, hands down! They taste buttery and sweet. The batter should be equally thick for pancakes or waffles. HOWEVER, this recipe DOES NOT work with only almond flour. You have to use the starch, and you'll get amazing pancakes. If you try using just almond flour without starch, your pancakes will be horrible excuses for pancakes that will make a mess of your pan. If you can eat almonds, I highly recommend you make this your go-to pancake mix.

Millet flour pancakes taste somewhat like biscuits, and are my second favorite flour to use. However, millet does tend to have a bitter aftertaste, so beware.

I love the flavor of buckwheat and teff. For a hearty mix, try either one or both.

Coconut flour DOES NOT work. AT ALL. BUT, you can add a few tablespoons to your mix if you want. You'll just end up increasing the amount of liquid needed.

Sweet white rice flour, amaranth flour, and white rice flour all tended to be a little gummy inside, so I wouldn't recommend using these. Brown rice flour had a nice texture and was good for a basic mix, although a bit bland for my liking.

Quinoa, sorghum, and garbanzo bean flour all made pancakes and waffles with great textures. The flavors aren't my personal favorites, but they can be jazzed up with the addition of other flavors.

If using an all-purpose mix like Bob's Red Mill, skip the starch (the mix already has starch in it), and use 1 3/4 cups of mix or 244 grams. I didn't use an all-purpose mix with xanthan gum in it, so I can't say how it will work if your mix has gums. I recommend buying a mix without gums, or better yet, skip the mix and just buy your favorite flour and starch.

For the sweetener, you can use 2 tablespoons of any granulated sugar. OR you can use 2 tablespoons of a liquid sweetener. Just add it to the wet ingredients instead. I personally thought the granulated sugar gave the best texture to the pancakes though.

For the applesauce, you can try using any puree...try banana, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, etc. I liked applesauce best in terms of texture though.

I tested these recipes with water and I liked the flavor. But any liquid can be used. If you use something like full-fat canned coconut milk (which I like to do), you'll need more liquid than if you use water or milk. Using water or milk, almond flour only needs about 1/2 cup of liquid, whereas most of the other flours need closer to 1 cup.

Many readers have commented that their batter stuck to the waffle iron and this is what one reader, Carol Ann Rowland, told me in her comment below: One thing I would comment on is that, with a nonstick waffle iron, it is
best to never grease it. If you do, you end up with a sticky residue
that just ends up being a little gummy which makes it harder to clean
and subsequent waffles just stick all that much more. If your
waffles are sticking, you need to add more oil to the batter, or bake
them slightly longer. It's the oil in the batter than needs to keep it
from sticking. I didn't oil my waffle iron at all (never have,
replaced a previous waffle iron because I hadn't known about this and
had gummed it up) and they came out perfectly and my waffle iron looks
completely clean without even having wiped it down yet.

That's all! If you test this out and like it, I'd love for you to come back and post how you made your pancakes/waffles in the comments for other readers to try!

@FourInchHeels, Good question. Starch is something you buy. There are 4 types: potato starch, tapioca starch, arrowroot starch, and cornstarch. Tapioca starch is also called tapioca flour. Those are the same thing. Potato starch IS NOT the same as potato flour. For this recipe, I highly recommend potato starch over the others. This is usually found with the gluten-free flours in your grocery store or can easily be purchased online.

How much do I admire you? Not only for this super easy, low maintenance recipe, but for your hard work! No gums?! GREAT! The thought of gums just weirds me out. So thank you!!! I'm looking forward to trying this recipe once winter break hits! <3

I'm fairly sure that the reason it works with cups or grams and with all flours is because of the flexibility with the liquid. If you were saying to always use 1/2 cup liquid, then you'd need more precision in your dry ingredients. But, since you're saying start with 1/2 cup and work your way up, you can have a lot of variability in the dry ingredients. The amount of leavener is enough to work with various liquid amounts.

I LOVE that you're posting the recipe this way, btw. That's how I always cook and bake. Because even if you give precise measurements, different batches of same flour are drier/moister depending on when they were harvested/processed, the humidity in the air can change things, etc. So, baking is always a bit of a "by feel" experience for me. I hope other folks will be inspired to bake and cook by feel as well!

Iris, you are amazing like the energizer bunny testing these flours! Your book will be a wonderful resource for so many.

I have to share with you that I adapted your first waffle guide when I started using quinoa flour last year. They were crunchy and delicious. We enjoyed them until I had to stop eating quinoa flour. I had hoped to post them on my blog but never got to it. When I saw your post today I was curious to see what you had tweaked. You know what? We did the same ratio of flours! This is so cool. I thought I would share the recipe adaptations that I made with you to add to the research. Here is my version.

Thanks Deanna :) What confused me about the cups and grams was that when I was making my chart, the amount of liquid needed came out to be 1 cup regardless of whether I was using cups or grams. However, when using a mix of flours (especially if you use almond flour) or a liquid other than water, the amount of liquid changes.

I know this will sound weird, but 'Thank Goodness for your OCD." lol, it does take one to know one, of course. My family is coming to visit in a week and I will definitely be making them pancakes based on your advice. Will be sure to let you know how they turn out (and how fast they disappear).

What a great resource- i'm excited to try your formula out, though i'll need to go get some gf flours and starches before i'm really ready. I like that you offer alternative sweeteners, too. I would go w/raw honey for health & eco reasons, but i'm hoping to try this 'natural' granulated sugar I recently heard about that has no calories and is unrefined...more on that later.Btw- I think I contacted you about exchanging guest posts a while back (?). My site is up to a PR 1 now if you'd like to revisit that possibility.thanks!Michael

I love pancakes but I never make them because I never cook them right. They're always burnt AND raw in the middle so I get my husband to do it. He's good at frying stuff.However, today I got all my courage together and tried your test recipe for Buckwheat Pancake my own self. It worked! I made one. Then I made another and then one more. Tender, fluffy and cooked through. I honestly did not think it was possible. Thank you.

I made these this morning using 56g of almond flour an the rest quinoa flour. These were so easy (easier than conventional pancakes) and tasted great. Thought of trying them with Brittany Angell's apple sauce for next time. Thanks for the recipe. It was the comfort food I was looking for this morning.

I can imagine this took you a really long time preparing and writing, but I can't tell you how grateful I am for it! The amount of times I've stumbled upon a gluten-free recipe only to find it calls for one or two of the g-f flours I don't have (and I have a lot of them, but there are so many out there!).

I also am the kind of person who wants to know the reasoning behind things so that if they go wrong, I can fix them, so I really appreciate the explanations! I'm still fairly new to g-f cooking and am still working out all the rhyme and reason behind each flour and its function (and the starches). This post has helped an absolute ton, so thanks again!

I made these today and they were really delicious, my 8 yr old just gobbled it up. Thanks you for such a easy recipe. My son was tired of the store waffles. In my next batch I might leave the salt our or reduce the baking powder since it felt lil salty. Please let me know if you have tried reducing baking powder. Thanks again for a easy quick recipe.

I just made these for the first time today and I have to give you props for being so obsessively detailed (a woman after my own heart!!). I have RARELY been able to feed my entire family the same meal with gluten/casein/egg/flax AND nut allergies in addition to Oral Allergy Syndrome to deal with. This recipe was super easy... I always grind too much flour for a recipe so I keep a big bag of gluten-free whole grain flour in the freezer that I just pulled out for this recipe. I was able to make it on a weekday morning before school (which NEVER happens) and everyone enjoyed them! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for making my morning a little easier (and yummier).

Thank you!!! I went on a search this morning for a gluten free/gum free/ allergy friendly recipe fully expecting to have to still do a host of substitutions. I lucked out when I found your post! I made them with 2/3 brown rice flour, 1/3 white rice flour, arrowroot starch and used a mix of canned coconut milk and water for the liquid. They are delicious!

Thanks so much for putting so much work into this. My son can't have egg whites but we recently introduced some gluten-free grains and starches into our diet, so these are going to work for us! I am going to try them out right away! Thanks so much,Sarah

Thank you for sharing your waffle recipe and all of your hard work. I think purchasing a kitchen scale will help me move up to the next level of GF cooking. Any suggestions of particular one? Have a great weekend!

I just tried this recipe for the first time. The comments were so good, I made a double batch. They are great! I used 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup millet flour, and 1/2 cup sorghum flour with tapioca starch and coconut palm sugar. I also added a 1 tsp of vanilla. They were delicious and had great texture. I'm looking forward to leftovers for breakfast. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Thank you - your recipe has saved my sanity!! My son was recently put on a grain-free, egg-free diet and I've not had great success until your post. The almond flour waffles are fabulous and I just made 'crackers' in a pizelle maker using bean flour and arrowroot that will be perfect for sandwiches!

Wow these turned out great!!!! I used almond flour and the potato starch as recommended and to make it sugar free I used liquid stevia (nu naturals brand) I also added 1tspn vanilla extract...i will no longer search for another pancake recipe!thank you!!

I used 3/4 cup almond meal/flour and 1/2 cup Hodgson Mills GF flour mix (millet, sorghum, and br rice flour) and a combination of corn starch and potato starch. For liquid used 3/4 cup almond milk and 1/2 cup water. Good texture.Looked really nice.A bit of a bitter after taste from the millet flour I assume. Will try a different combination of flours next time.

Yep Susie, the millet can definitely leave a bitter aftertaste, especially if it's gone rancid, which it doesn't quickly. If you don't already, you'll definitely want to keep your flours in the fridge or freezer so they'll last longer. Personally I would say if you have almond meal, just use all almond meal and skip the mix. It will taste sweet and buttery!

I halved the recipe cause I keep wasting so much batter trying to make pancakes and waffles. Anyway the outsides cooked fine but the insides came out gummy. I've had the same problem with other recipes and if I used chia or flax seeds as a substitute for eggs. It's driving me nuts. Not sure what I'm doing wrong...

OMG. I almost was in tears seeing your recipe. I have allergies to wheat, gluten, eggs and I get stuck when it comes to breakfast. I never know what to eat or make . . sometimes I hardly eat anything and find I am starving myself. I am definitely going to try this. THis really seems like I can handle making it! THank you so much for posting this. You dont know how much I appreciate it :-) May there always be happiness and light in your life :-)

We made pancakes this morning with almond meal and arrowroot. They were pretty gummy gross. We didn't finish them. But! I think it's the arrowroot. I made the pudding recipe on the back of the package (Bob's Red Mill) and it had the consistency of snot. Seriously. I think arrowroot makes snot, explaining the pancakes. I'll have to get some potato starch....

Did a search this morning hoping for a good wheat/dairy/egg free waffle recipe and found yours. I made a half recipe to see how we liked them. I just used bob's red mill gluten free flour mix since I had it on hand. Added about 3/4 t xanthan gum. I used water as my liquid, needed 1/2 cup. I also added a teaspoon each of vanilla and cinnamon. They turned out pretty good. Didn't realize we were about out of syrup, would have been better if we had more. But I will make again for sure. My 2 boys loved them.

I also tried these pancakes with almond flour and arrowroot, and the insides were gummy. Course I had also just butchered a completely different recipe as well (one for a GF German Pancake), so it could be that I wasn't meant to make pancakes tonight.

Hi!I just wanted to say THANK YOU for this recipe. I am new to gluten-free baking and am overwhelmed by the science behind it! I feel like I'm learning how to cook/bake all over again! I saw this recipe and knew I needed to try it, since the last few pancake/waffle recipes didn't turn out. I made the recipe exactly as you stated (because, as I stated before, I am not confident or knowledgeable enough to know what to substitute!). Not only were they DELICIOUS, they were also light and fluffy and crisp--something I had yet to find in any other recipe. THANK you for doing all the hard, tedious work for those of us (me) who are still struggling with how to eat gluten free. You've given me hope that I can still eat "normal" foods without sacrificing taste/texture.

Terrific recipe--you are a life saver! My son is allergic to wheat, soy, egg, milk and corn, but he LOVES waffles so I had to find something that would work for us. This is so easy and delicious. I used 1 3/4 cups Bob's flour, my own corn-free baking powder mixture, I added a tsp of gluten-free pure vanilla extract, and I only used 1/4 tsp of salt. I used 1 cup of liquid (1/4 cup full fat Thai Kitchen coconut milk plus 3/4 cup organic rice milk). I made sure to really oil up my waffle iron and they came out perfect. I can't thank you enough!

Fabulous post and recipe. Thanks so much Iris. The kids and I made these and they LOVED them. I used quinoa flour, potato starch, almond flour, and coconut sugar (and unsweetened almond milk). You rock! Such an easy recipe.

Oh, you are genious! This is genious! Thank you! I linked your page and translated this recipe in Finnish here: http://ailuutt.blogspot.fi/2012/06/glutenfree-eggfree-dairyfree-pancakes.htmlHope you're okay with that!

I just made these and my son is loving them! This is the first time I've been successful in making GF vegan waffles since going gluten free last fall. My 2 year old is loving them. Thank you so much! I used a mix of Bob's Red Mill with brown rice flour, and I used brown sugar, and I used almond milk for the liquid - it ended up being about 1 cup. I also used banana puree instead of applesauce.

Made these last night and froze them after they cooled (Up at 4:30 am next morning - not a good time to try a new recipe!). Used King Arthur Gluten Free Multi-Purpose Flour ( Blend of Rice, Tapioca Starch, Potato Starch, Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour) - used thawed frozen banana in place of the applesauce and as per your mention didn't add additional Potato Starch since the flour already had it. These turned out wonderful! Thank you - husband has an intolerance to eggs and the traditional waffles or the Paleo/Primal waffle recipes really give him alot of trouble. These puffed up nicely - which I was really surprised about. A bit of fiddling with temp control on my waffle iron will produce a crisper waffle. Seem to freeze well also. Thank you. Now - do you have a good Primal/Paleo tortilla recipe?

VictorianCobweb, so glad you enjoyed them! I wish I had a good tortilla recipe, as I miss them a lot! I use this recipe from Real Sustenance sometimes, although it's not quite like tortillas. But it fills a void: http://realsustenance.com/flax-tortillas-glutengrainstarcheggcornsoynut-free/

I used almond flour as my flour of choice and thought it did have a great flavor but since I was all out of potato starch, I used tapioca. No bueno. It makes the pancakes super gummy just like apparently using arrowroot does. I'm going to try these again with the potato. Thanks so much for experimenting! I have been seeking the perfect gf pancake recipe, which has been extremely hard to find!

Wow, wow, wow! I've been searching for an almond flour recipe that has a smooth and fluffy texture and THIS IS IT! As you suggested, I used almond flour (very finely ground) and potato starch. I did not use the sugar because I cut in banana and it was so sweet!

This was the best grain- free, egg-free waffle recipe I've tried. I used almond flour and potato starch. Unfortunately, the batter completely stuck in my waffle iron even though I gave it a good coating of coconut oil, so I used the rest of the better to make pancakes. Those came out wonderful! Thank you!

I've made these a couple times and I just adapted them for soaking overnight (for easier digestibility). I soaked the flour/starch mix with liquid (water0 overnight, along with a small amount of acid medium (kefir, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar). This morning I added the rest of the ingredients and they turned into fabulous waffles. I've also used agave and honey instead of sugar with success. Thanks so much for posting this! My son absolutely loves these waffles and they've become on the go snacks.

Absolutely THE best waffle recipe out there, hands down! Phenomenal! Made these with half millet flour and half sorghum flour and the potato starch for my meat and potatoes hubby and his folks and they thought they were wonderful, too. Made them again just for the kids and I with half millet flour and half teff and the potato starch and they were even better, in my opinion! Thank you so much for your labor of love. It has blessed our waffle loving family greatly! We now have one waffle recipe for all the family members!!!

I made these with Almond Flour, Tapioca Starch (I'm nightshade free), almond milk and banana instead of applesauce...my husband said they were the best waffles yet! That compliment was huge! The texture inside and out were perfect. I can't wait to make them again. Thanks so much for this recipe!

This recipe works well with gluten free flour mixes like King Arthur, or with brown rice flour, but the almond flour/potato starch combo was a real disaster. Gummy and completely disintegrating in the pan. Hands down the worst.

I've been searching forever for a completely wheat less recipe! Thank goodness I finally (after three days of scouring the Internet) found a your simple recipe where I don't have to use a million different recipes. Can almond flour be made at home?

You did a very good job on the flours & starch ! :)I would be curious to see a second analysis of your recipe but this time keeping the same flour and starch but changing only the non-dairy milk to see the results.I'm french and when I had to change my recipe to do crêpes, i've seen huge differences of results just by changing the type of milk i was using. I personally liked the results with millet milk.

What a comprehensive post on pancakes! I am looking forward to experimenting with your recipe. I have been gf for 2 years now and have just adopted a vegan diet. It has been a bit challenging to find a good pancake recipe. Thank you for sharing your pancake knowledge. :)

Hi, I tried your recipe this morning with almond meal and about 1/4 c oat flour. We're not vegan so i subbed in an egg for teh apple sauce and added vanilla. They were super yum. Thanks so much for sharing!

I would really appreciate some help as I'm very new to gf cooking. I followed the recipe exactly and used almond flour and potato starch. I oiled the grill very well but the waffles jus fell apart and stuck to all parts of the grill. Im not sure where I went wrong. How thick should the batter be? Maybe it was too thin?

Almond flour and potato starch should make the best tasting waffles, so I'm not sure what went wrong. My best bet would be, as you said, that the batter was too thin. How much water did you use? It's hard to describe how thick it should be but when you're using almond flour, you only need to use a little water (1/2 cup). So if you give it a shot again, try that and you should be okay.

Thank you so much for this recipe! I am new to gluten-free, but have dairy and egg allergies too! So this is perfect for my family. I am a terrible pancake maker, probably because I won't use non-stick cookware. But, i had to give these a try. I doubled the recipe and made a few modifications to suit my diet (no sugar). 2 1/2 cups almond flour, 1 cup cornstarch, 2 teaspoons baking powder (I forgot to double, but didn't seem to affect to outcome), 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon stevia, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 mashed bananas, 2 tablespoons coconut oil (again forgot to double, but I cooked them in a ton of oil so maybe that is why it was okay), 1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk + a couple tablespoons) I did cook them in plenty of coconut oil, so they wouldn't stick (I mean a lot!) But, they came out fabulously! My family goobled them down, but because they are so filling nobody ate more than 2-3. I made them a bit bigger, so I came out with ten. They were crispy golden on the outside and fluffy yummy goodness on the inside. They used maple syrup on them, but I just added a bit more coconut oil and sprinkled cinnamon on they. Divine as is! Next time I make these, which will be soon, I will try doubling the two ingredients I forgot to double and can't wait to try pumpkin (my favorite) and coconut milk. Thank you again!!!Shannon

This looks like a great recipe but my son is allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy and nuts. If I remember correctly buckwheat doesn't have wheat, right? A little refresher and an idea of a good flour would be most helpful.

Neesed a quick recipe for breakfast before I got up for work, especially since I had no soymilk. I had some teaso I added it right in. Perfect texture, perfect flavor. Thank you for your dedicated hard work!

Thank you for this delicious recipe!! We tried it with the almond flour this morning and it was yummy. I have a question about making pancakes though. I never made pancakes before having our food allergic daughter. We tried a dry cast iron pan and they just stuck into the pan. Tried again with coconut oil in the cast iron pan and they broke up and fried in the oil. Then we tried a dry teflon pan and got burned but edible (and still yummy) pancakes. I'd rather not use teflon. Do you know how to cook them on cast iron? Or would stainless steel be better? Thanks very much for your help.

I'm no expert on different types of pans, but here's my suggestion. Heat your cast iron pan until it's nice and hot but on medium-low. Then add oil so it won't stick. Try olive oil if the coconut isn't working (although I'm not sure why it wouldn't). I'm going to post your question on my Facebook page, so you can also try going there and see if there's a good answer. :) https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Daily-Dietribe/176804983275

Thank you so much for this. I am a frequent baker but have recently had to start baking GF/DF/Egg free for my son and find it intimidating! All the gums, I always seem to be missing an ingredient... I love that you made it more of a technique than a recipe. I made it with 1.75C Bob's Red Mill AP Mix and while I found it to smell funny, the kids loved it.

Tried the almond flour and potato starch version. Yummy. In the old days I made scratch yeast based Belgium waffles and these were better. Different texture, but I prefer the almond flour. I did accidentally forget the sugar, but I didn't miss it. If I don't miss the sugar I won't need it in the future. Thank you so much for your hard work.

These turned out great! I used Almond Flour and potato starch. I used 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (in place of applesauce) and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice. They were so good! The only thing I couldn't figure out is how to not make them stick to the waffle iron. No amount of oil kept them from sticking. Oh well, so they weren't pretty on the plate but they sure were tasty! lol!

I just made these this morning with a gluten free AP mix that I had made up previously with a variety of nutritious flours & some starch.

They were delicious! I am not vegan but I have celiac and I was out of eggs this morning.

I did use a chia slurry in place of the applesauce, and added an extra Tbsp of coconut oil, and almond milk as the liquid.

One thing I would comment on is that, with a nonstick waffle iron, it is best to *never* grease it. If you do, you end up with a sticky residue that just ends up being a little gummy which makes it harder to clean and subsequent waffles just stick all that much more.

If your waffles are sticking, you need to add more oil to the batter, or bake them slightly longer. It's the oil in the batter than needs to keep it from sticking.

I didn't oil my waffle iron at all (never have, replaced a previous waffle iron because I hadn't known about this and had gummed it up) and they came out perfectly and my waffle iron looks completely clean without even having wiped it down yet.

THANK YOU! As a new gluten free baker it was such a joy to make something yummy, lofty and tasted like gluten. I tried three flour variations of waffles and tested them on my three year old and husband.

for starch I used tapioca starch for all three. My favorite was mix 1, sweet, and cake like. My husband liked mix 2, great texture and good flavor. All three mixes tasted great. I think I will make a mix of #2 and add more sweetener.

I made these this morning for my son, who is very picky and recently tested sensitive to all kinds of foods. I wanted to say that these pancakes are so yummy and easy. Thank you for simplifying the ingredients, and for not using eggs. My biggest pet peeve with gluten free recipes is the crazy amount of ingredients! This one, I had all the ingredients on hand. My son dips them in applesauce and eats happily. Thank you! One question - is there anything that can be used in place of baking powder?

I've made this recipe several times, and every time it seems to come out incredibly dense. Even though it tastes good, I have a hard time finishing even one waffle made with this recipe. The ingredients I'm using are:

* for the flour - brown rice flour* for the starch - potato starch* for the sweetener - white sugar* for the liquid - water

Otherwise I haven't made any changes to the recipe. I have made it once with almond flour and it was quite good, but haven't done so again as the fat content was a bit too high for my diet (and not offset enough by the reduction in carbs). Is it just that I'm using brown rice flour?

Peter Wood- I'm not sure. I haven't had that problem with this recipe, but I would recommend using sorghum flour, garbanzo bean flour, or teff flour...or a combination of those rather than all brown rice flour. You might also play around with the baking powder ratio and try adding a tiny bit more or adding a small amount of baking soda.

ONe thing, though: I needed more than your recommended liquid ratio for my almond flour pancakes but that was easy to adjust. They are the best--like they are drenched in Earth Balance butter but they aren't! Thanks again!

Not so sure mine turned out quite right... I had white spelt and buckwheat flours on hand, so I used a 50/50 mix of them. And could not find my potato starch anywhere so ended up using Tapioca. I did, also, tweak the recipe a tad by adding a Tbsp of flax meal and a tiny bit more banana. It took about a cup of water. Anyways, my batter was super elastic. As in if there was a little less liquid it probably would have more resembled bread dough. After they were done they were slightly rubbery. Can you tell me is this a result of my flour/starch combo? Or, more likely, the added flax? Tasted awesome and thank you so much for the recipe! It's been too long since I have been able to enjoy pancakes. I know my gluten/egg and dairy sensitive 6 year old is gonna love this!

The flax could have made the difference, but more likely it is because you used spelt. Spelt has gluten in it, and gluten is what provides elasticity in regular baked goods. So I would try again with all buckwheat and tapioca (no flax) or buckwheat, another gluten-free flour, and tapioca.

I have to say that these vegan almond waffles were ALMOST perfect! The texture came out crunchy and not gummy at all like other many (MANY) recipes I've tested before. The only problem my family had was that they came out too sweet, even my 9 year old complaint about the sweetness of the first batch I made and did no eat it. I guess the apple sauce had enough sugar (even though it was unsweetened) for our taste buds. I only put 1tsp of sugar in my batter now and this works for us! We serve it with puréed berries with a bit of lemon juice and agave instead of syrup! Thank you very much for this recipe! I almost gave up vegan pancakes/waffles recipes and stuck to vegetarian versions using egg whites. I am very happy I can use this recipe instead! Thanks!

My 2 daughters and I just want to give you a standing ovation,1st for being so persistent in your quest for a great GF pancake recipe and 2nd for an amazing fluffy, moist,tasty pancake that works every time!!! We used almond flour w potato starch, coconut milk (1/2 cup), olive oil, added chopped bananas and for the girls I added some chocolate chips! Thanks you. God bless you always!

My teenage daughters surprised me with breakfast this morning (Mother's Day). When they handed me the plate of pancakes I was a little sad- they looked just like "normal" pancakes. I asked, skeptically if they were gluten free, and was surprised when they said "YES!" I have made dozens of different gf pancake recipes and none of them a keeper. Then my girls find your site. And your awesome pancakes. Thank you!!! Michelle

Just wanted to take a moment to comment because it's clear that you put a whole lot of work into developing this recipe. Holy smokes.

I've made these pancakes several times over the past couple of months after stumbling on your site searching for yet *another* pancake recipe.

I didn't have high hopes, having made recipes from several gluten-free cookbooks, as well as from all over the web.

But instead of being yet another morning letdown, these pancakes made me do a little dance in the kitchen. They were fluffy and light, cooked all the way through! I haven't had a pancake like that in years.

I use brown rice & oat flour, some almond flour when I have it, and always potato starch. It hasn't failed me yet. So thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you. I've enjoyed these pancakes several times in the last month! My flour mixture of choice is teff, brown rice & soy or millet. I've tried it both with tapioca and with potato starches. Either seems to work. And I was grateful for the comment about adding a little extra oil to the recipe as it was very sticky the first time. I use 3 T of oil and it seems to work out just fine. Thank you again for posting this recipe!

I made these using hazelnut flour a couple of times and noticed a big difference when using arrow root starch versus corn starch. With the arrow root, the pancakes turn gummy and do not seem to cook inside but when adding cornstarch, a pillowy and perfect pancake appears! I barely put syrup on them and serve them with bananas. My five year old daughter loves them!

Thank you so much for taking the time (and money) to experiment and share your results with the rest of us. I just posted my interpretation of your recipe on our blog along with a link to your original post. This recipe is absolutely awesome.http://americusgardeninn.blogspot.com/2014/04/pumpkin-almond-flour-waffles-gluten.html

This recipe was perfect! Thank you for all of your experimenting. It is so helpful and gives up many options. We are gluten dairy and egg free. These pancakes are yummy and fluffy unlike any others I have tried. This is now our go to recipe! Even my husband loved them!

This is an outstanding recipe! I am so glad that I found it and read through all the comments before attempting to make it. I successfully made the pancakes this morning using almond flour as my flour of choice, corn starch and almond milk. I was honestly a little nervous about the corn starch because I feared that it would be gummy in the center. Especially since you recommend potatoe starch (which I didn't have on hand). It was actually very moist and fluffy. It definitely has a buttery flavor overall. I also used Earth Balance butter as my oil for cooking. I didn't have any issues with the batter sticking. Next time around I will use potatoe starch to compare. Thank you so much for providing a solid, informative recipe!

This recipe is outstanding! I am so glad I found it and read through all the comments before attempting to make it. I successfully made the pancakes this morning using almond flour as my flour of choice, cornstarch and almond milk. I honestly was a little nervous about the cornstarch because I feared that it would be gummy in the center. Especially since you recommended potato starch. It was actually very moist and fluffy. I used Earth Balance butter as my oil for cooking and I didn't I have any issues with the batter sticking. I will use potato starch next time to compare. Thank you so much for providing a solid and informative recipe!

This is the best recipe ever, I've tried so many varieties and it works out every time. I recently went to a Paleo diet but can't eat almonds so I tried with sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds ground up in my Blentec for 14 seconds and they turned out sooooo yummy. so now its also nut free. You are a savior, I always make double batch for my waffles and use it for bread with my burgers. I freeze them and toast it when needed, breakfast, snack, sandwich, even can be used for pizza crust. I use a bit less sugar too, don't want it to sweet for sandwiches. THANK YOU!!!!

Hi, I want to ask can these be made savory but reducing or removing the sugar content and using potato puree? I want to try a mix of half white rice flour and half garbanzo bean flour with potato starch, do you think this is a safe bet? Thank you bye. :)

Thank you so much for the recipe. My son can only have buckwheat,soy or corn and I made the waffles with buckwheat flour,potato starch and they were sooooo good!! He's been dying to eat waffles and I never thought it would end up making them considering the limited choice of grains we had. Thank you for trying so hard,so we could have it easy!

Thank you so much for giving us this great recipe (and so many others that I can't wait to try!) My son was recently found to be allergic to a large number of foods, including gluten and eggs so this recipe is perfect for our needs. He and I love them, they are so tasty.

Thanks a lot for this delicious recipe. I used tapioca flour (not starch) and only 1 tsp of baking powder because I hate the taste of too much backing powder. The waffles did absolutely not stick and were very good! You made our day!